"angry" gamers/critics

[The Nothingness]

About Doug and Pokemon, what's his beef with it that he criticizes it every episode? It's not something like Twilight/50 Shades that people universally mock/dislike (in fact it's pretty much liked everywhere), and I'm pretty sure his fanbase are fans of it, so what is he doing with these jokes?

Is he looking up to losing viewers? Eventually they'll get tired of the uptenth "pokemon sucks" joke and leave him. Is this his "i dislike a popular franchise that everybody else likes that's why i'm awesome!" shtick like special snowflake hipsters are with other franchises?

I think the reason is because Pokemon became popular when he was in his teen years and being like a rebellious, snarky teen, he hated it and still does.

 

[friedshrimp]

I think the reason is because Pokemon became popular when he was in his teen years and being like a rebellious, snarky teen, he hated it and still does.

But he's like in his mid 30s...

 

[The Nothingness]

But he's like in his mid 30s...

So Pokemon (games and show) came to America in 1997-1998, which means Doug was just finishing high school

 

[darkhorse816]

Just saw his Freddy vs. Jason review. His spergy nit-picking was on full-alert, like saying that's not how REM sleep works (it's a slasher movie, the writers and director care about kills-- not if it accurately represent a phase of sleep), or criticizing people using a lantern in 2003 (you use a lantern when you camp).

 

[Magnum Dong]

So instead of tackling 80s horror movies he grew up on (including ones that were cashing on the slasher genre), he does Freddy vs. Jason

Hypothetically, Freddy vs Jason gives Doug the excuse to whine about "wah, muh childhood", sequelitis, etc. which is the sorta nostalgia raging he might think his audience wants to hear. (Note: I did not watch the review, but in general Doug tends to cater to other people.)

Which, thinking about this in light of all his Pokemon jokes, is interesting. I mean, yeah, he definitely likes being a contrarian, but Pokemon jokes have an audience. It's just that this audience largely skews older and less nerdy than the average NC viewer. Could Doug be trying to attract a wider demographic? (not just with these jokes, but even in general, maybe)

 

[Gordon Cole]

Hypothetically, Freddy vs Jason gives Doug the excuse to whine about "wah, muh childhood", sequelitis, etc. which is the sorta nostalgia raging he might think his audience wants to hear. (Note: I did not watch the review, but in general Doug tends to cater to other people.)

Which, thinking about this in light of all his Pokemon jokes, is interesting. I mean, yeah, he definitely likes being a contrarian, but Pokemon jokes have an audience. It's just that this audience largely skews older and less nerdy than the average NC viewer. Could Doug be trying to attract a wider demographic? (not just with these jokes, but even in general, maybe)

It's honestly a weird balance between trying to appeal to as wide an audience as possible (Pokemon, political humor, more recent films) and be in the CA Mob's good graces.

The thing is, he's unsuccessful among the non-deluded, so you have to wonder why he bothers.

 

[friedshrimp]

Hypothetically, Freddy vs Jason gives Doug the excuse to whine about "wah, muh childhood", sequelitis, etc. which is the sorta nostalgia raging he might think his audience wants to hear. (Note: I did not watch the review, but in general Doug tends to cater to other people.)

Which, thinking about this in light of all his Pokemon jokes, is interesting. I mean, yeah, he definitely likes being a contrarian, but Pokemon jokes have an audience. It's just that this audience largely skews older and less nerdy than the average NC viewer. Could Doug be trying to attract a wider demographic? (not just with these jokes, but even in general, maybe)

But what demographic? The only people who still watch him are his devout followers and the poor curious onlooker who's caught unaware by one of his videos. Most of Youtube's audience are millennials into Pokemon and prefer seeing let's players, musicians, tutorials, theorists and actual positive critics over a screaming manchild ten years their senior freaking out over everything. The angry critic genre is out of fashion nowadays.

 

[Jewelsmakerguy]

But what demographic? The only people who still watch him are his devout followers and the poor curious onlooker who's caught unaware by one of his videos. Most of Youtube's audience are millennials into Pokemon and prefer seeing let's players, musicians, tutorials, theorists and actual positive critics over a screaming manchild ten years their senior freaking out over everything. The angry critic genre is out of fashion nowadays.

It's been out of fashion for nearly half a decade at this point. And even during his heyday, Doug as showing signs of trying to stay relevant to even his peers. Because they learned the right times to get angry (to varying extent) as opposed to being angry all the time.

 

[friedshrimp]

It's been out of fashion for nearly half a decade at this point. And even during his heyday, Doug as showing signs of trying to stay relevant to even his peers. Because they learned the right times to get angry (to varying extent) as opposed to being angry all the time.

You think Doug will be doing this forever, well into his 50s and 60s...Like who'll be watching him then??

 

[The Nothingness]

You think Doug will be doing this forever, well into his 50s and 60s...Like who'll be watching him then??

And who will still be on the CA site?

 

[Jewelsmakerguy]

You think Doug will be doing this forever, well into his 50s and 60s...Like who'll be watching him then??

Nah, I expect him to give up within the next couple of years. 2018-2019 earliest.

 

[friedshrimp]

And who will still be on the CA site?

Brad, balder than ever? And I suppose the basement dwellers of his fanbase will keep watching him...

Anyway, I found this jewel:

Nothing better than a screaming neckbeard.

 

[Gordon Cole]

You think Doug will be doing this forever, well into his 50s and 60s...Like who'll be watching him then??

Honestly, you can say that about a lot of YouTubers. I'm curious if the internet will still watch people like PewDiePie, Markiplier, et al once they hit their late 30s/Early 40s. It's just my opinion that YouTube is usually a young person's game.

 

[Jewelsmakerguy]

Honestly, you can say that about a lot of YouTubers. I'm curious if the internet will still watch people like PewDiePie, Markiplier, et al once they hit their late 30s/Early 40s. It's just my opinion that YouTube is usually a young person's game.

You'd be surprised by the amount of 30+ year old users on YouTube. But the big names? I really don't see them lasting for much longer once the reach that age range.

 

[Quijibo69]

Honestly, you can say that about a lot of YouTubers. I'm curious if the internet will still watch people like PewDiePie, Markiplier, et al once they hit their late 30s/Early 40s. It's just my opinion that YouTube is usually a young person's game.

I think there's already some youtubers around that age. I think Boogie2837 is 40.

 

[Intelligent Calcium]

I think there's already some youtubers around that age. I think Boogie2837 is 40.

Yeah, but he's so morbidly obese that you can't really tell his age. If you don't know it, he could be anywhere from 25 to 50 I'd say.

 

[Someone in a Tree]

Given that Freddy and Jason were two huge icons in the 1980s, I can see why it would make sense to feature the crossover film in a Nostalgia Critic episode. In fact, given how much Hollywood has been mining 1980s pop culture the past few years, this should theoretically be a fertile time for Walker's schtick, but his approach has changed very little since 2007 and it really shows. The interminable sketches only illustrate how lost Walker's comedy skills are when he doesn't have the safety net of a shitty movie to fall back on. I watched a few minutes of the Freddy vs Jason review and was struck by how forced it felt. I might be in the minority here, but I think that most of the recent years' worth of AVGN episodes haven't been good (particularly that movie, which is just as indulgent as the CA anniversary movies but with better production values), but they don't come across as desperate as post-reboot NC. I think a big part of that is that Rolfe only releases a handful of episodes a year now. Imagine how different that would be if he still made them every two weeks like he did years ago? That's Walker's current schedule and that's him only producing at half speed from what it was when he started, when he was pumping out a new one each week. Rolfe has been doing this three or so years longer, and Walker has made more than double the number of NC episodes to AVGN.

 

[Jewelsmakerguy]

Given that Freddy and Jason were two huge icons in the 1980s, I can see why it would make sense to feature the crossover film in a Nostalgia Critic episode. In fact, given how much Hollywood has been mining 1980s pop culture the past few years, this should theoretically be a fertile time for Walker's schtick, but his approach has changed very little since 2007 and it really shows. The interminable sketches only illustrate how lost Walker's comedy skills are when he doesn't have the safety net of a shitty movie to fall back on. I watched a few minutes of the Freddy vs Jason review and was struck by how forced it felt. I might be in the minority here, but I think that most of the recent years' worth of AVGN episodes haven't been good (particularly that movie, which is just as indulgent as the CA anniversary movies but with better production values), but they don't come across as desperate as post-reboot NC. I think a big part of that is that Rolfe only releases a handful of episodes a year now. Imagine how different that would be if he still made them every two weeks like he did years ago? That's Walker's current schedule and that's him only producing at half speed from what it was when he started, when he was pumping out a new one each week. Rolfe has been doing this three or so years longer, and Walker has made more than double the number of NC episodes to AVGN.

My thoughts exactly. Never saw the review myself, but I can easily see myself not enjoying it.

As self-indulgent as James' film ended up being, you can tell James has some idea of filmmaking and that the actors clearly were enjoying themselves. The CA films, not so much. You can tell almost everyone were either on the verge of cringing or just didn't give a shit during production in the final product (especially with Suburban Knights and To Boldly Flee), with only the Walkers, Lewis and Matthew taking the material presented before them seriously.

This is an issue I've been seeing in Doug's recent "reviews" (I hesitate to call them that, considering the skits overpower the review portion most of the time) as well. His actors feel like they're on the verge of laughing at the script a lot of the time or wondering why they were roped into this in the first place. The Rocky & Bullwinkle review in particular, as the guest star looked like he was uncertain as to whether he should even take the material seriously or not. And Doug's usual crew look like they're getting fed up with it too.

Really, this is why Doug should realize sooner than later that not that many people want his brand of reviewing. Say what you want about James, but he learned he can't sustain himself on curse words and shit jokes alone. Yeah they're still present, but in moderation, instead of all the time like they used to be. Doug feels like he's stuck perpetually in 2006 and shows no sign of getting out of it anytime soon. As much as many of us would like him to.

 

[Somar]

As underwhelming as James' movie was, it at least felt like an actual movie, which is more than what I can say for any of Doug's train wrecks.

 

[Someone in a Tree]

My thoughts exactly. Never saw the review myself, but I can easily see myself not enjoying it.

As self-indulgent as James' film ended up being, you can tell James has some idea of filmmaking and that the actors clearly were enjoying themselves. The CA films, not so much. You can tell almost everyone were either on the verge of cringing or just didn't give a shit during production in the final product (especially with Suburban Knights and To Boldly Flee), with only the Walkers, Lewis and Matthew taking the material presented before them seriously.

This is an issue I've been seeing in Doug's recent "reviews" (I hesitate to call them that, considering the skits overpower the review portion most of the time) as well. His actors feel like they're on the verge of laughing at the script a lot of the time or wondering why they were roped into this in the first place. The Rocky & Bullwinkle review in particular, as the guest star looked like he was uncertain as to whether he should even take the material seriously or not. And Doug's usual crew look like they're getting fed up with it too.

Really, this is why Doug should realize sooner than later that not that many people want his brand of reviewing. Say what you want about James, but he learned he can't sustain himself on curse words and shit jokes alone. Yeah they're still present, but in moderation, instead of all the time like they used to be. Doug feels like he's stuck perpetually in 2006 and shows no sign of getting out of it anytime soon. As much as many of us would like him to.

I hesitate to call them reviews because there is a disturbingly high number of people in his fan base who considers his videos to be actual reviews. If the Nostalgia Critic is a real critic, than the guys at MST3K must be cahiers du cinema. Not to get too off topic, but fellow site stalwart Moviebob was at the MST3K Reunion panel and asked the cast and crew what it was like having such an impact on modern internet film criticism. The MST3K guys had to explain to them that what they do is comedy, not serious criticism. A fuckton of Channel Awesome content makers and viewers can't tell the difference.